Screed with wing attachment



I. MCCANDLESS ETAL 'SCREED WITH WING ATTACHMENT March 24, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 13, 1961 INVENTORS RA LOYAL Mc CANDLESS.

FLOYD JAMES Ma MAHON.

/ ATTORNEYS.

March 24, 1964 ccANDLEss ETAL 3,125,935

SCREED WITH WING ATTACHMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1961 INVENTOR. IRA LOYAL McCANDLESS. FLOYD JAMES MC MAHON.

ATTORNEYS.

March 1964 1'. MCCANDLESS ETAL 3,125,935

SC-REED WITH WING ATTACHMENT Filed March 15, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 L A M INVENTOR.

\RA LOYAL Me. CANDLESS.

FLOYD JAMES MLMAHON. BY

MM ATTQRN EYS.

United States Patent 3,125,935 SCREED WITH WlNG ATTACHMENT Ira Loyal McCandless and Floyd James McMahon, Mattoon, Ill., assignors to Blaw-Knox Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 95,261 7 Claims. (Cl. 94-45) This invention relates to paving machines of the type used in paving, and is for an improvement in those devices used in connection with the screeds of paving machines known as screed wings, and also for a mounting for the wings on the screed.

In the construction of concrete roadways, forms are placed along each side of a strip or area to be paved, and concrete is spread between the forms and leveled or smoothed off to form the finished road surface. The forms constitute rails along which the spreading and paving machines travel. Certain of these machines have screeds which extend transversely across the area being paved, and which are wider than the distance between the forms, and which generally rest near their ends on the forms. The screeds are reciprocated in the direction of their length. As the screed is being so reciprocated, the machine on which it is carried moves along the forms spreading, smoothing, or finishing the concrete.

Generally, there is an excess of concrete being pushed along by the reciprocating screed, and this accumulation would spill over the forms to the outside of the area being paved, so that it is known in the art to provide forwardly-extending wings that are carried by the screed. They are so located near each end of the screed and with reference to the forms, that when they move toward the center of the pavement area, they push accumulated material at the front of the screed away from the forms toward the center of the area, but when they move in the opposite direction, they move away from the accumulation to a position over the rails adjacent which they move, and thereby confine the paving material to the area being paved, and substantially eliminate spillage to the outside of the forms. The amplitude of the rectilinear movement of the screed is only a few inches, so that the wings attached to a screed move only the same small distance with respect to the road forms above which they are located.

Difficulty arises from the fact that some road surfaces are crowned, and some are flat, and from the fact that the width of the paving may vary, so that wings positioned in a correct vertical and horizontal position for one area will not be correct for another. The paving machines themselves are laterally adjustable to different road widths, while the screeds may be of the maximum length required for the widest area to which the machine can be adjusted, or the screed may have sections that are removably attached on the ends of a mid section, or they may be extensible. Often they are provided with flexing devices in their structure for crowning or flattening the screed as required.

Whatever the character of the screed, present constructions of wings and mountings therefor are limited, either that While they may be adjusted laterally toward or away from each other, they cannot be adjusted vertically; or they are of such construction that extension sections of the screed must be located between the center of the machine and the terminal on which the wing is mounted; or they otherwise lack flexibility and ready adjustability or adaptability.

According to the present invention, there is a clamping strip secured by bolts or studs to the front face of the screed extending in a lengthwise direction intermediate the top and bottom of the screed. Each wing element has spaced plates at the rear face thereof, there 3,125,935 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 "ice being an upper plate that is clamped between the upper edge of the strip and the front of the screed, and a lower plate that is similarly confined between the lower edge of the clamping strip and the front of the screed. By loosening the bolts for the clamping strip, a wing may be adjusted vertically relatively to the clamping strip to the required extent, or moved horizontally to the required position. When the wing is properly located, the clamping strip is tightened against the front of the screed to immovably confine the plates at the back of the wing against movement relative to the clamping strip or screed.

The invention has for a principal object to provide a wing attachment for screeds which is a simple construction, and which permits ready and adequate adjustment of the wing relative to the screed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wing which may be easily adjusted vertically as required by a crown or absence of a crown on the pavement, and which may also be adjusted to keep the bottom of the wing even with the bottom of the screed, although the screed wears more rapidly than the wing.

These and other objects and advantages are secured by our invention as will be more fully understood by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a screed and extension with a wing near each end thereof, the screed being shown more or less schematically or conventionally;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary isometric view showing the end portion of a screed and the wing in place thereon;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section in substantially the plane of line IIIIII of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows as indicated thereon; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cover plate at the inner face of the wing, detached, however, from the wing.

In the drawings, referring first to FIG. 1, 2 is a screed of a paving machine, the machine and the mechanism for moving the screed back and forth not being shown, and the screed itself is shown only in outline. It has a flat front face 3, and for purposes of illustration, it is here shown with two extension sections 2a and 2b at the ends, but these may not always be used. The road forms are designated 4, and the wings 5 are of identical shape, but they are faced in opposite directions that is, more accurately speaking, they are mirror images.

Secured to the vertical front face of the screed is a horizontally-extending strip of metal 6 that is held in place by studs or bolts 7 welded to the longitudinal center of the strip, the inner ends of these studs extending inside the screed and having nuts 8 thereon. These studs are at regular intervals along the strip 6. The strip 6 is transversely arched with the concave surface toward the screed (see FIG. 3). Each screed extension 2a and 2b has a similar strip secured thereto extending the length of the section, and the strip of each section is also designated 6. The clamping strip sections on the screed sections are all in alignment. The strips 6 are narrower than the vertical face of the screed, so that the lower edge of a strip is well above the bottom edge of the screed, and the top edge is equally far below the top.

Each wing 5 is a hollow irregularly-shaped body having a flat bottom 10, a vertical inner face portion 11 normal to the front face of the screed and the full height of the screed, providing a generally rectangular inner panel, and forwardly of this portion the top edge of the wing slopes downwardly and the side face 12 flares outwardly to the pointed front tip of the wing. The outside has a bluntly angled side panel 13 extending from the point to a rearwardly-extending panel 14, the rear portion of which is also a rectangle 15, similar to 11.

At the rear of the wing there is a downwardly-extending flat plate 16 and an upwardly-extending flat plate 17, the two being separated by a space 18. The distance between the edges of the two plates, that is, the vertical width of space 18, is substantially greater than the diameter of the studs 7' and less thanthe height of the strip 6.

There is a removable cover plate 19 supported on cleats Sainside the wing, thiscover having a hand hole 2i therethrough to enable it to be readily lifted off and replaced to afford access to the. interior of the wing for cleaningout any concrete or mortar that may work its Way into the-wing. It may be retained in place by the surrounding vertical walls of the wing and by its own weight or may be suitably fastened.

In use, the nuts 8 are loosened on the studs 7, allowing the strip or strips 6 to bebacked away from the front face of the'screed. It may be explained that access to these nuts is acquired through the top of the screed. The wing is brought to position at the end of the screed so that theupper and lower plates 16 and 17 at the back of the wing may be slipped behind the upper and lower edges of the strip 6, with the space 18 between the two places allowing clearance for the bolts or studs 7. The wing is moved laterally to the proper position on the screed relative tothe rail 4above whichit is to operate, held at the proper elevation, and then the nuts 8 are tightened to clamp the plates 16 and 17 between the strip 6 on the front face of the screed, as clearly shown in FIG. 3. Because of the transversely-arched form of the strip 6 and themetal of the strip having an inherent resilience, a somewhatresilient metal plate material being used for forming the strip 6, and because of the studs 7 being spaced relatively short distances from one another, the strip can be forcibly urged toward the face of the screed to very effectively and immovably clamp the plates 16 and 17, and hence the entire wing, in position. A slight resilience of the metal in conjunction with its arched form permits adequate resilience to increase the effective clamping action of the strip.

In order to provide clearance for the vertical adjustment of the wing. relative the clamping strip 6, the rectangular side panel portions 1 1 and 14 have elongated vertical notches in their edges at 21 and 22 respectively, these cut-outs or notches being of greater vertical extent than the width of the strip 6. Without these cut-out portions the back face of the wing could not be flush against the front face of the screed, and unless the notches were longer than the width of the strip, the wing could not be adjusted vertically relatively to the screed.

The notch 21, however, in the panel 11 is on the inner or working face of the wing, and concrete being moved by. the wing could flow through the notch 21. therefore provided on the panel 11 a cover plate 23. This cover plate has a notch 23a on its inner edge to fit closely over strip 6 in its clamping position. The plate is of a height and width to more than cover the notch 21. It has upper and lower vertical slots 24 therein, and the panel 11 has upper and lower horizontal slots 25 therein and the slots 24' across the slots 25-. A bolt 26-with a head inside the wing projects outward through each horizontal slot 25, and each vertical slot 24, and each has an exposed nut 27 at its outer end. With this arrangement the cover plate 23' may be adjusted vertically and horizontally relative to the wing, the strip 6 and the screed, so that after the wing has been clamped into position, the cover plate 23 maybe positioned so that its inner edge straddles or sets astride the strip 6 and effectively closes notch 21, and when so positioned the nuts 27 may be tightened to hold the cover plate in position.

The wing structure need not be excessively heavy, and the stresses imposed upon it are not great, so that the clamping arrangement herein described is quite adequate to hold the wing in position, while, at the same time, it permits the wing to be readily adjusted to any required location. Merely for illustration of the flexibility and adaptability, the wings are shown in FIG. 1 as having There is a their inner faces spanning the joint between two screed extension sections 2a and 2b, though this might not be the most frequent way of using them, since in many cases the screed will have no extensions applied to it and may be a unitary structure long enough for the maximum distance between the forms 4 ever to be encountered by such machine.

The strips 6 may be completely removed where they are not needed, but do not interfere with the action of the screed when they are left in place. If the wing is clamped by a strip or strip 6 of an extension, as shown in FIG. 1, the strip 6 on the mid section of the-screed, being then not needed, may be tightened against the face of the screed.

Except when otherwise indicated, the term screed as used herein includes the entire screed, including. an extension or extensions. The screed. may be of any type or construction having a vertical forward face against which the wing may be secured. If the bottom of the wing projects below the bottom of the screed, it tends to tilt the soreed. This condition may develop'due to the fact that the bottom of the screed will be abraded more rapidly than the bottom of the wing. Vertical. adjustability of the wing enables this condition to be corrected, as well as providing for the usually more frequent adjustments due to changes in the crown of the pavement or absence of any crown in one location and a crown at another. The removable cover 19 for the wing affords access to the interior of the wing and to the bolts 26. The wings themselves are preferably of a width such that some part of the bottom of the wing will always be above one of the form rails and never ride by reciprocation of the screed completely clear of the form. The lateral adjustment herein provided enables this condition to be assured, since infinitely small increments of adjustment are possible.

The space r18 between the rear plates 16 and 17 is less than the width of the strip 6, but as previously stated, is substantially wider than the diameter of the bolts or studs 7. The bottom plate 10 of'the wing comes tight against the bottom of the screed, and the, backofthe wing is flat against the vertical face of the screed. Should any concrete work into the hollow interior of the wing, it is not confined in any space where it can become wedged and may be cleaned out when the cover 19 is lifted;

Should concrete become lodged between the strip 6 and the front of the screed, it may be easily removed by loosening the nuts 8 and moving the strip 6. awayv from the front of the screed.

While we have shown and described one specific form of our invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications maybe made therein within the concept of our invention and under the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A screed for paving machines comprising a screed member having a vertical front face, a clamping strip secured to the front face of the screed extending longitudinally of the screed and intermediate the top and bottom edges of the screed, means on the clamping strip along its longitudinal center for attaching it to the face of the screed and adjusting it in a direction normal to the face of the screed, a wing member for the screed extending forwardly from the front face of the screed and having a rear face abutting against the face of the screed, said rear face of the wing comprising spaced upper and lower plates engaged between the front face of the screed and said clamping strip above and below the center line' 2. A screed for paving machines comprising a main screed body having a vertical front face, a horizontal row of spaced threaded bolts passing through said face in the area of the end of the screed, a clamping strip at the front of said face on which the bolts are carried, the bolts having nuts thereon for retaining the strip on the front face of the screed and forcibly urging the strip toward said front face of the screed, the bolts being located along the longitudinal center of the strip, the strip being of a width less than the vertical height 'of the said face of the screed, and a screed wing member having a flat back surface comprising an upper plate and a lower plate spaced from each other, the lower edge portion of the upper strip being confined above the level of the row of bolts between the strip and the said face of the screed, the lower plate having its upper portion confined between the strip below the row of bolts and said face of the screed whereby the wing member may be clamped in place by tightening the nuts against the strip, the length of the clamping strip being greater than the horizontal width of the wing whereby the wing may be adjusted along the front face of the screed, the wing member having spaced vertical side plates shaped at their inner edges to clear the clamping strip.

3. A screed for paving machines as defined in claim 2 in which the strip is transversely arched with its concave surface confronting said face of the screed.

4. A screed for paving machines as defined in claim 2 in which the body of the screed has a mid portion and end extensions and the clamping strip is formed in sections, one of which is near the end of the mid section and one of which is on the extension with the two strip sections being in longitudinal alignment.

5. A wing attachment for mounting at the front of a paving machine screed element comprising a hollow boxlike structure having a bottom, an inner side wall, an outer side wall spaced from the inner one, a rear wall comprising horizontally extending vertically spaced upper and lower rear plates, a separate elongated attaching strip of a length substantially exceeding the width of the box-like structure for securing the wing to the front of a screed along which the hollow box-like wing element may be adjusted, said strip having bolts along its longitudinal center, the area of the strip above the bolts overlapping the said upper rear plate and the area of the strip below the bolts overlapping the lower rear plate, said bolts passing through the space between the upper and lower plates for attaching the strip to a screed, the attaching strip extending 6 through said inner and outer side walls of the box-like wing element.

6. A wing attachment for screeds as defined in claim 5 in which the rear edges of the inner and outer side walls have vertically elongated notches therein to provide clearance for the attaching strip and of a length greater than the width of the attaching strip, a cover plate on the inner side wall of the wing over said notch having a notch in its rear edge fitting about the attaching strip, the cover plate covering the notch at the rear edge of said inner side wall, and means for securing the cover plate on the inner side wall for adjustment vertically and toward and away from the rear edge of the side wall.

7. A wing attachment for screeds as defined in claim 5 in which the rear edges of the inner and outer side walls have vertically elongated notches therein to provide clearance for the attaching strip and of a length greater than the width of the attaching strip, the inner side wall having upper and lower horizontal slots therein, a cover plate on the inner side wall covering the vertically elongated notch and having on its rear edge a notch that fits the attaching strip so that the cover plate may be positioned astride the attaching strip, the cover plate having upper and lower vertical slots therein in the inner side walls, and fasteners passing through the respective horizontal and vertical slots for enabling the cover plate to be adjusted in the plane of the plate vertically and horizontally relatively to the side plate and releasably held in adjusted position, said wing attachment having a removable cover for access to said fasteners and to enable concrete that may work into the wing attachment to be removed therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 472,646 Stokes Apr. 12, 1892 2,054,437 Mosel Sept. 15, 1936 2,142,262 Beckham Jan. 3, 1939 2,150,618 Blackwell Mar. 14, 1939 2,183,844 Murphy Dec. 19, 1939 2,788,100 Landell Apr. 9, 1957 2,930,459 Moser Mar. 29, 1960 2,945,427 Gerk July 19, 1960 2,948,202 Millikin Aug. 9, 1960 2,962,949 ODea Dec. 6, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 612,529 Canada Jan. 17, 1961 

1. A SCREED FOR PAVING MACHINES COMPRISING A SCREED MEMBER HAVING A VERTICAL FRONT FACE, A CLAMPING STRIP SECURED TO THE FRONT FACE OF THE SCREED EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE SCREED AND INTERMEDIATE THE TOP AND BOTTOM EDGES OF THE SCREED, MEANS ON THE CLAMPING STRIP ALONG ITS LONGITUDINAL CENTER FOR ATTACHING IT TO THE FACE OF THE SCREED AND ADJUSTING IT IN A DIRECTION NORMAL TO THE FACE OF THE SCREED, A WING MEMBER FOR THE SCREED EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM THE FRONT FACE OF THE SCREED AND HAVING A REAR FACE ABUTTING AGAINST THE FACE OF THE SCREED, SAID REAR FACE OF THE WING COMPRISING SPACED UPPER AND LOWER PLATES ENGAGED BETWEEN THE FRONT FACE OF THE SCREED AND SAID CLAMPING STRIP ABOVE AND BELOW THE CENTER LINE OF SAID STRIP, THE WING MEMBER BEING NARROWER THAN THE LENGTH OF THE CLAMPING STRIP WHEREBY IT MAY BE ADJUSTABLY POSITIONED ALONG THE FRONT FACE OF THE SCREED UPON MOVING THE CLAMPING STRIP TOWARD OR AWAY FROM THE FRONT FACE OF THE SCREED TO CLAMP OR RELEASE THE WING, THE WING MEMBER HAVING SPACED VERTICAL SIDE PLATES SHAPED AT THEIR INNER EDGES TO CLEAR THE CLAMPING STRIP. 